Leadership vs Management (1)

Over the years the terms management and leadership have been so closely related that individuals in general think of them as synonymous. However, this is not the case even considering that good managers have leadership skills and vice-versa. With this concept in mind, leadership can be viewed as:

• centralized or decentralized
  
• broad or focused
  
• decision-oriented or morale-centred
  
• intrinsic or derived from some authority
  

Any of the bipolar labels traditionally ascribed to management style could also apply to leadership style. Hersey and Blanchard use this approach: they claim that management merely consists of leadership applied to business situations; or in other words management forms a subset of the broader leadership process. They say: "Leadership occurs any time one attempts to influence the behavior of an individual or group, regardless of the reason. Management is a kind of leadership in which the achievement of organizational goals is paramount." And according to Warren Bennis and Dan Goldsmith, A good manager does things right. A leader does the right things."

However, a clear distinction between management and leadership may nevertheless prove useful. This would allow for a reciprocal relationship between leadership and management, implying that an effective manager should possess leadership skills, and an effective leader should demonstrate management skills. One clear distinction could provide the following definition:

Management involves power by position.

Leadership involves power by influence.

Abraham Zaleznik (1977), for example, delineated differences between leadership and management. He saw leaders as inspiring visionaries concerned about substance while managers he views as planners who have concerns with process. Warren Bennis (1989) further explicated a dichotomy between managers and leaders. He drew twelve distinctions between the two groups:

• Managers administer; leaders innovate.
  
• Managers ask how and when; leaders ask what and why.
  
• Managers focus on systems; leaders focus on people.
  
• Managers do things right; leaders do the right things.
  
• Managers maintain; leaders develop.
  
• Managers rely on control; leaders inspire trust.
  
• Managers have short-term perspective; leaders have long-term perspective.
  
• Managers accept the status-quo; leaders challenge the status-quo.
  
• Managers have an eye on the bottom line; leaders have an eye on the horizon.
  
• Managers imitate; leaders originate.
  
• Managers emulate the classic good soldier; leaders are their own person.
  
• Managers copy; leaders show originality.
  

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org